1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a marine propulsion system, and more particularly to a shifting system for an outboard drive transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
Many forms of outboard drives employ forward, neutral, reverse transmissions. Such transmissions are common in both outboard motors and in the outboard drive units of inboard-outboard motors. These transmissions typically include a dog clutches to couple rotating members together. A shifting mechanism normally controls the actuation of the clutch in either the forward or reverse drive directions.
It is generally desirable to engage the clutch with a transmission gear under a resilient force to allow the teeth of the clutch and the corresponding transmission gear to register before engagement. It also is generally desirable to disengage the clutch from the transmission gear under a positive force for immediate responsive.
Prior shift assistor devices have been used to resiliently engage and positively disengage the clutch from the transmission. These prior devices, however, involve many components and tend to be overly complicated. For instance, in one such prior device, two distinct couplings mechanisms are used independently to couple a shift rod and an actuator rod together, depending upon the drive direction. One detent coupling couples the shift operator and clutch actuator together in one drive direction and the other detent coupling couples the shift operator and clutch actuator together in the other drive direction. These distinct mechanisms are further linked together which produces a very complex and complicated mechanism.